The drawing of Seika is finally done and ready for viewing. Just paste this url in your browser window: http://www.geocities.com/tender_tailz/seikasitting_cg.jpg

^_^ enjoy, and please give me your comments on her.

Chapter 10

Yue watched the closed door silently, resisting the growing urge to eavesdrop. He hadn't forgotten what he had just saw, and for that fact, probably never will. He turned to look at his sleeping mistress, allowing the immediate pang of guilt wash over him as he remembered that he should be the one asking Seika whatever Eriol was asking her.

"Something bothering you, Yue?" asked a familiar voice coming from the foot of the bed.

Recognizing the voice at once, Yue glared at the Sealed Beast lying on the floor. He hated it when Cerberus asked that, because the common question after that would be "what's troubling you?" And that was certainly not something Yue felt like sharing about.

"Come on, you can tell me! We're brothers aren't we?"

Yue answered only with another cold glare in Cerberus' direction.

"It's something to do with Seika isn't it?" this time it was Ruby moon who spoke.

"It's also none of your business," Yue snapped.

"I was just asking…" replied a Ruby moon in a hurt tone, looking to Cerberus for support. The Sun Guardian nodded in agreement.

So now they're forming an alliance against me. Great. Yue could never understand why Cerberus couldn't leave him alone. Some things were just not meant to be the subject of 'today's small talk'. He folded his arms and looked away from them. Some how they seemed to have turned into eyesores.

"Yue, you shouldn't always keep everything to yourself. It's bad, and you know it," said Cerberus encouragingly.

"YES! That's EXACTLY WHY you should tell US!!!" said Ruby moon, emphasizing her proclamation by slapping her hand down on the armrest of the couch.
[sweat drop]

"Anou…Ruby moon, I think you're spoiling the mood here…" said Cerberus.

"Huh? What's going on?" said Tomoyo, rubbing her eyes as she lifted her head off Ruby moon's lap, the vigorous movements having woken her up.

That's it. I'm getting out. "Nan demo nai, Daidouji-san," Yue said as he turned to leave the room.

"WAIT! Where do you think you're going?" demanded Ruby moon.

Yue made no answer, pausing only to take a backward glance at Sakura before closing the door.

*~*~*~*~*

"N-nani?"

"Were you once Clow's wife?" Eriol calmly asked again.

Seika sat back in her chair, overcome with shock at his question. Clow-sama… had a wife? How was it she didn't know? Was that why he always wanted her around? Or why he always kissed her so tenderly? She suddenly found it surprisingly difficult to find any words to say.

"Are you suggesting," she began nervously, "that Clow-sama had a wife?"

"He indeed had a wife," Eriol answered. "I was hoping you could tell me more about her."

"But wouldn't you know better than me? You said you are his reincarnation. You should know everything."

"Sadly I don't," confessed Eriol. "I'd come to the conclusion that Clow erased her from his memory somehow. Though if that were true, why would he do something like that?"

"Demo, why was it you asked to see this jewel he gave me?" asked Seika.

"Because, that stone with you is something Clow gave to his wife."

"Oh…"

Silence fell on both of them, finding that neither of one knew anything about the great Magician's woman. It was an ironic situation for both Seika and Eriol. Of all people, Eriol was the one who should know what was going on and such. Yet he hadn't the slightest clue about anything regarding Seika. Seika should at least have some faint idea what was going on because she was the one who made the grand entrance.

The ticking of the clock in the room seemed to grow louder and louder and the two figures sat motionless facing each other. Eriol's mind was filled with thoughts of different situations which would have led things to what they were now. At the same time he was trying very hard to remember anything that could do with Clow's wife. He closed his eyes and tried to concentrate. Maybe, if I think hard enough, I might be able to recall something about her…

Just then he heard Seika humming a tune softly. If he didn't know better, he would've thought it were the song of angels. Even if she were just humming, it sounded so beautiful that any mortal would start to cry at the sound of it. He was already tearing.

"What is that song you're singing?" he asked her, wiping the wetness of his eyes away with the back of his hand.

Seika looked at him as if stunned, and blushed slightly as she tried to remember where the tune came from. "G-Gomen… I don't seem to remember where I heard it, Eriol-sama."

"Hmm… but I think I do," Eriol said, walking over to the piano on the other side of the room. Seika listened to the clicking of his shoes as she waited in anticipation at what he was about to do.

Suddenly the room was completely silent. The clock that was ticking so loudly just moments before now couldn't be heard at all. The weight of Clow's power felt in the room was undeniable; he was trying to show her something.

Facing Eriol was a reflection of Clow on the polished black surface of the piano. Lifting up the piano cover, he folded up the cloth that was over the keys neatly and laid it aside. Seika watched him attentively as he positioned his hands over the keys and closed his eyes. He played the first few notes of the song and then glided melodically into the main tune, his hands running up and down the keys smoothly and without flaw, as if he was born to play the song even if he had never seen the score.

And he began to sing.

I close my eyes, and there in the shadows I see your light
You come to me out of my dreams and close my night
You take my hand, for you may be so many stars away
I know that our spirits and souls are one
We've circled the moon and we've touched the sun
So here, we'll still

For always, forever
Beyond here and onto eternity
For always, forever
For us there's no time and no space
No barrier love won't erase
Wherever you go I still know when my heart will be near
With me

From this day on, I'm certain that I'll never be alone
I know what my heart must have always known
That love has a power that's on its own

And for always, forever
Now we can fly
And for always, and always
We will go on, beyond goodbye…

For always, forever
Beyond here and onto eternity
For always, and ever
You'll be on fire, for me

And for always, forever
Our falls and tomorrows may cross the sky
And for always and always
We will go on beyond goodbye…

When Eriol finished the song, he was crying. For Seika had begun to sing with him halfway through the song, and together with the piano it felt as though the heavens had opened its doors to let him hear the most astounding voice of its magnificent choir of angels.

Finally finding within him the voice to speak, he asked her, "Now do you remember where the song is from?"

"Yes…" she responded softly with a voice choked with emotion. She shut her eyes, and her body shivered slightly as she took in a deep breath. Eriol waited till was ready to speak again, meanwhile wiping his tears away with his handkerchief.

"C-Clow-sama used to sing it to me, and I would sing it with him… " she said.

"It was also the song Clow sang to his wife," said Eriol, reading a hidden sorrow in her eyes when she looked at him directly while he spoke.

"Oh…"

Eriol got off the piano chair and walked back to sit facing Seika again. She was looking down, though there was nothing on the ground that demanded much attention besides the carpet. Eriol took her hand lightly with his and coaxed her gently to look at him. "Seika…"

When she looked up at him, he asked, "I must know, even if you are unwilling to tell me yet, where you are from. Please Seika, you can trust us."

There was a momentary silence Seika took to gather her thoughts before she spoke. "I'm from the planet Eden. A few thousand light years ago, the Clow I knew and all other creations of his were destroyed in a furious battle I was unaware of. Just before he died, he gave me whatever was left of him, but I…I didn't want it!" she said, her voice finally giving way to a release of emotions. Tears were pooling in her eyes, and they made shimmering rivers down her face as she shut her eyes tightly. She managed to recover herself quickly however, seemingly unwilling to make a scene in Eriol's presence.

Taking another deep breath, she continued in a quivering voice, "So I left Eden, using Clow's energy to push me into space where I thought I could be lost forever. So that I would…" but she didn't need to finish for Eriol to understand. "Then unexpected to me, I ended up here, and I don't know how."

"Did you say, planet Eden?" asked Eriol.

"Hai."

"Seika, I think there is something you must know then. This isn't planet Eden; this is Earth. Clow had died a long time ago here, and Sakura-san is the one who has the cards now."

"Earth? But how is it everything seems the same… yet different… I-I don't exactly know how to explain…" said Seika as she put her hands to the sides of her head. "I'm so confused…"

Seika got off her chair and sat on the ground beside the chair Eriol sat on, and rested her head on his knee.

"Wha…?" Eriol exclaimed in surprise before realizing that this was nothing unusual. From what he remembered of being Clow, Yue would always do that whenever he felt disturbed. Understanding dawned on him, as he looked at the crouching figure bellow him. Without noticing, his hand glided down to her head as Clow's hand did in the past, and gently, softly, comfortingly, stroked her long silken strands of hair on the back of her head.

"Daijoubu," he said. "There's no need to worry over it. I'll get it sorted out; you have my word on it."

"Honto?" asked Seika, turning her head slightly to the side to look at him.

"Aa," said Eriol, bending down to whisper his answer in her ear, while maintaining eye contact with her. He knew how important it was to look someone in the eye whenever one offered his word. It was almost like signing some unseen contract with that person by just by looking into their eyes. He also knew that some people mistreat this form of trust, and manage to look with unfaltering eyes at the other. But even so it was all he could offer to her just then, and he hoped that she would in turn, give him her trust.

Apparently she did, turning back and resting her head in its previous position, a somewhat relieved yet still troubled smile on her face. Eriol leaned back into the chair and sighed, tilting his head to look out the window. Indeed the stars were beautiful even if they weren't bringing him any source of comfort for the moment, but that didn't alter the fact that they still shone brightly like tiny diamonds flickering gleefully in the dark abyss of the night sky.

That's it! The sky! That was the answer to his question! The porthole from which Seika came from, was it still there? What could it mean? Once again Eriol could kick himself for not noticing again. He should've checked it out before. Boy have I been slacking. Perhaps… perhaps it's because of Kaho. Eriol shook his head. No, it's because of me. I'm getting too distracted with my own personal matters. Whatever it was, he had an idea now of how Seika came to them.

"Seika," he called her, continuing the stroke her fine hair. She turned to look at him curiously. "Seika I think I know where you've come from."

"You do?"

"Hai. I think you might be from another universe," he said. But when she gave him a questioning look, he decided to explain in more detail, even if he hadn't confirmed his theory yet. There were just some times when the Guardians acted so much more like little children. He couldn't blame them for acting this way though, Clow had to teach them everything from the day they were made like newborn babies. It was no surprise that Seika acted this way too.

"When you came to us on that night, you traveled through a portal in the sky. It looks quite deceiving actually, which was why I didn't think of it before. The portal had taken the image of a hurricane, and disguised itself as a weather condition. Ima wakarimashita ka? [Do you understand?]"

Seika nodded slightly, but clearly enough to show her understanding.

"I believe that you might be from an alternate universe with this current planet Earth known as Eden. That is how you know a similar Clow and his guardians, but in a different universe."

"Soka…" said Seika, clearly trying to digest what Eriol just said. "Can… can we go see it tomorrow then, Eriol-sama?"

"Hai...Boku-tachi ashita wo miru desu...." [Yes… we'll go see it tomorrow…]

*~*~*~*~*

Syaoran yawned and stretched as he got up from the bed. His back ached from that sitting position which he was in for the past hour or so. It cracked while he stretched, increasing his growing emotion of grumpiness. That was of course until he remembered where he was, and whom he was waiting for. Sakura… He knew that even if he called her name out loud, the peacefully sleeping girl would not awaken.

Carefully he lifted her hand with his, and planted a soft but lingering kiss on it. Getting up from the cramped posture he took with him to sleep, he walked over to the Cerberus, who lay on the floor at the foot of the bed since the time they first entered the room.

"Did she wake up at all?" he asked, his voice hoarse with the need for a drink of water.

"Nope," Cerberus said. "Not even a flicker of her eyelids."

Syaoran sighed in disappointment. He knew that was what he expected in the first place, but amidst all that doubt and fear collected in his heart since Sakura collapsed, he clung on to the hope that she would awaken soon. That she was strong enough to defeat whatever it was that was oppressing them.

Taking a moment to look around him, Syaoran asked, "Where is Hiragizawa, Yue, and Seika?"

"Well Eriol-sama and Seika are in that room," said Ruby moon, "and Yue… well he went out by himself a little earlier."

"Soka," Syaoran said before releasing another yawn.

"I think it's time you head off for some proper rest my friend."

"Hiragizawa!" Syaoran jumped in shock.

"Oh there's no need to give me such a grand welcome," Eriol chucked at the shocked expressions on their faces. "But as I was saying, you'd better get some serious rest. I'm sure Ruby moon and Keroberus would be able to keep watch over Sakura-san. Spinel Sun too, that is if he feel like waking up." Behind him, Seika came out of the room and closed the door. "Seika, you follow me," he said to her though.

"What's going on, Eriol-kun?" asked Ruby moon.

"We have a long day tomorrow Ruby, and we humans would need our rest," Eriol said while leading Syaoran, Tomoyo, and Seika out of the room. "Tomoyo, if it's not too much to ask, may you let us have a place to rest for the rest of the night?" he asked the dark-haired girl warmly, knowing she wouldn't object.

"Hai," she said, trying her best to smile at him. And so she led them down the corridor, and into another set of rooms where they rested till morning came.

*~*~*~*~*

Scribbles
I'm sorry but I'm a little too lazy to do the translations now. Anyway there isn't much new stuff. I've translated the English translations for the jap sentences next to them already. Anything else, look in the previous chapters. I would say I took really long with this chapter, not because I was working really hard on it, but rather I was caught up with other stuff that demanded my time more to a great extent. I did though, spend some time getting the lyrics of the song out XD by listening to it over and over again. I think my mom thought my Winamp mustave been screwed up or something. Well if you're wondering, the song is 'For Always', performed by Lara Fabian and ... ok I forgot the guy's name ^^6. But if you're looking to go download the song, download the duet version. I think it sounds a lot sweeter. Its from the motion picture A.I. (Artificial Intelligence).

Well I hope this chapter wasn't so bad. True, it didn't explain much, but that's the reason why you guys have to keep reading ^_^ I hope that you like the drawing of Seika I did. I'm currently working on another one of her and Yue... hehehe... gotta love that bishounen XD there's a preview of it here: http://www.geocities.com/tender_tailz/yue_seika.jpg (copy and paste it in your browser window as before). Lastly, like I say at the end of every chapter, PLEASE review. You may not think its much by just leaving a short one-sentenced note of how you found the story, but to me, it means a lot ^^